SBM Offshore, which awarded contracts in relation to the Liza Destiny Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, has assured its partners and the Guyanese public that it is ready for the next phase of the country’s journey into oil production.
In a release on Monday, SBM said that it was pleased to announce that FPSO Liza Destiny has produced first oil as of December 20, 2019 and is formally on hire.

“We are proud of FPSO Liza Destiny reaching ‘first oil’ for our client and the people of Guyana. The vessel is producing the first oil in Guyana’s history. Our teams have done an excellent job by completing the project well in line with our client’s schedule. The delivery time from the engineering study phase until first oil – three years – is impressive and a clear testimony of our capabilities and industry-leading experience. We are looking forward to further generating value for our client ExxonMobil and in particular with respect to making a contribution towards Guyana becoming a significant oil-producing country,” CEO of SBM Offshore, Bruno Chabas, commented.

The Liza Destiny FPSO was transformed from the oil tanker, “Tina”, a VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea and the contract for its conversion was awarded to SBM Offshore in July 2017.

The Liza Destiny has a production capacity of up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day and an overall storage volume of 1.6 million barrels. During normal operations, there will be at least 80 persons living and working onboard the vessel.

SBM noted that the FPSO is installed at the Liza field, located circa 200 kilometres offshore Guyana in the Stabroek Block.

Managing Director of Operations at SBM Offshore, Oivind Tangen, also commented: “We are delighted to be taking the Liza Destiny into the next phase of its journey. We remain highly focused on diligently moving through the final steps, with HSE remaining a first priority. This milestone also marks the formal hand over of the project to our operations organisation in Guyana, an organisation that is supported by our global organisation. Together we shall ensure a responsible operatorship and continuously strive for operational excellence in all our activities.”

SBM Offshore has also been awarded contracts to construct, install, lease and operate the Liza Unity FPSO – Guyana’s second – and has completed the project financing of US$1.14B.
The Liza Unity FPSO will be designed to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day with a storage capacity of two million barrels in comparison to the Liza Destiny FPSO with 120,000 barrels of oil per day.